The author Tillie Lerner Olsenwas born early in the 19th century. She was born on a cold winter day January 14, 1913 in “the land of opportunity”. At least, that was what her Russian parents thought when they came there as Jewish immigrants to try their luck. They settled in Wahoo in the state of Nebraska. This is also the place Tillie Olsen was born, before they quickly moved again.
The small family moved to Omaha where Olsen spent most of her childhood. In Omaha Olsen also got the chance to go the local school. But her life wasn't easy at all, and the fact that she was living among the city's Jewish community didn't make things better. At an age of 15 she dropped out of high school and took some work instead. The reason was, obviously enough, that she desperately needed money. She came from a poor family so she basically didn't have a choice. Through the following years Tillie Olsen had several low-paid jobs. Due to her Russian background she was forced to take jobs like being a waitress, domestic worker and such things that “their people” often had to do. But even though Olsen's life seemed bad she actually had it pretty good from time to time too. Because although she dropped out of school she still stayed updated by going to public libraries. And after a few years with many library visits she started to develop an interest for politics.
The outcome of her interest for politics resulted in that she became a union organizer and a political activist in the Socialist community. It was then completely natural for her to join the American Communist party in the 1930’s. Her interest in politic didn't make her popular and the fact that she supported the “wrong” party made people “talk”. Woman just wasn't meant to be in the politics. In 1934 Tillie Olsen got jailed while organizing a packing house workers' union. The reason was, according to the police, that she was “making too much noise”. Luckily it was only for a short period of time. However, it still made Olsen really angry and it was also an experience she was going to write about later in her life.
Under the time Olsen served in jail she made a lot of thinking. It was time to move again. She moved to San Francisco, California. She needed a fresh start and turned over a new leaf. Olsen's new home made her so comfortable and happy that she for the first time in her life really settled. Olsen spent much of her lifetime in this city before she once again moved, to Berkeley, California. Tillie Olsen wasn't really rich so she had to move to a simple cottage behind her youngest daughter's home. It wasn't much, but at an age of 85 she didn't need more either. And luckily for Tillie Olsen, she lived happily ever after until her time recently ran out on January 1, 2007.
Tillie Lerner Olsen ended her life in her 94th year at earth. She was a hard-working woman who raised and supported four children through “everyday jobs”. She spent 20 years of her life doing this. When she then had finished raising her kids she reconsidered her career as a writer. And once Olsen's books were published, she became sort of a teacher/writer at prestigious schools such as Stanford University, Amherst College, Kenyon College and MIT. Tillie Olsen is now the recipient of nine honorary degrees included awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, and from the Guggenheim Foundation.
Tillie Olsen started her writing at an unusual low age. In fact, she began to write when she was barely 19 years old in the beginning of 1930. Olsen wanted to write about all the challenges she had met in her life, but also the politic she was so deeply dedicated to. The funny thing is that she only had to write one single chapter. The reason was that an excerpt of it got published in a magazine which immediately led to a contract with “Random House”. Tillie Olsen then abandoned the book after working on it intermittently in 6 years, due to all the work and responsibility in the home. She just hadn't the energy nor the time to put down such an effort which the writing required. It wasn't before she started to get old with a lot of spare time she started to write again. This is why she didn't publish a book before 1961. And it's also the reason why Olsen's books mainly are based on her hard and full life as a wife and mother. Many years later, in 1974, she finally published this unfinished novel as “Yonnondio: From the Thirties”.
The small family moved to Omaha where Olsen spent most of her childhood. In Omaha Olsen also got the chance to go the local school. But her life wasn't easy at all, and the fact that she was living among the city's Jewish community didn't make things better. At an age of 15 she dropped out of high school and took some work instead. The reason was, obviously enough, that she desperately needed money. She came from a poor family so she basically didn't have a choice. Through the following years Tillie Olsen had several low-paid jobs. Due to her Russian background she was forced to take jobs like being a waitress, domestic worker and such things that “their people” often had to do. But even though Olsen's life seemed bad she actually had it pretty good from time to time too. Because although she dropped out of school she still stayed updated by going to public libraries. And after a few years with many library visits she started to develop an interest for politics.
The outcome of her interest for politics resulted in that she became a union organizer and a political activist in the Socialist community. It was then completely natural for her to join the American Communist party in the 1930’s. Her interest in politic didn't make her popular and the fact that she supported the “wrong” party made people “talk”. Woman just wasn't meant to be in the politics. In 1934 Tillie Olsen got jailed while organizing a packing house workers' union. The reason was, according to the police, that she was “making too much noise”. Luckily it was only for a short period of time. However, it still made Olsen really angry and it was also an experience she was going to write about later in her life.
Under the time Olsen served in jail she made a lot of thinking. It was time to move again. She moved to San Francisco, California. She needed a fresh start and turned over a new leaf. Olsen's new home made her so comfortable and happy that she for the first time in her life really settled. Olsen spent much of her lifetime in this city before she once again moved, to Berkeley, California. Tillie Olsen wasn't really rich so she had to move to a simple cottage behind her youngest daughter's home. It wasn't much, but at an age of 85 she didn't need more either. And luckily for Tillie Olsen, she lived happily ever after until her time recently ran out on January 1, 2007.
Tillie Lerner Olsen ended her life in her 94th year at earth. She was a hard-working woman who raised and supported four children through “everyday jobs”. She spent 20 years of her life doing this. When she then had finished raising her kids she reconsidered her career as a writer. And once Olsen's books were published, she became sort of a teacher/writer at prestigious schools such as Stanford University, Amherst College, Kenyon College and MIT. Tillie Olsen is now the recipient of nine honorary degrees included awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, and from the Guggenheim Foundation.
Tillie Olsen started her writing at an unusual low age. In fact, she began to write when she was barely 19 years old in the beginning of 1930. Olsen wanted to write about all the challenges she had met in her life, but also the politic she was so deeply dedicated to. The funny thing is that she only had to write one single chapter. The reason was that an excerpt of it got published in a magazine which immediately led to a contract with “Random House”. Tillie Olsen then abandoned the book after working on it intermittently in 6 years, due to all the work and responsibility in the home. She just hadn't the energy nor the time to put down such an effort which the writing required. It wasn't before she started to get old with a lot of spare time she started to write again. This is why she didn't publish a book before 1961. And it's also the reason why Olsen's books mainly are based on her hard and full life as a wife and mother. Many years later, in 1974, she finally published this unfinished novel as “Yonnondio: From the Thirties”.
Click here to go back to the main page.